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Yes/Boston Announces Inaugural Cohort of 12 Innovators Advancing Food and Health Solutions

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From resilient food production and logistics to improving access to nutritious meals, the inaugural cohort is focused on deploying solutions to strengthen Boston’s food and health landscape.

BOSTON, June 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Yes/Boston, an initiative intended to accelerate innovation at the intersection of food systems and health, today announced its inaugural cohort of 12 innovators. Chosen from 131 applicants by the World Economic Forum’s UpLink platform with support from local startup accelerator MassChallenge, this first cohort features solutions aimed at strengthening Boston’s food and health landscape and will work with Boston’s public, private and community collaborators to deploy solutions that help improve health outcomes, strengthen food-system resilience and expand economic opportunity.

Through a program led locally by MassChallenge, the innovators will receive hands-on support, matching founders with experts, and will bring together healthcare systems, community organizations, public sector stakeholders, and corporate collaborators positioned to help them develop, deploy and grow.

Yes/Boston launched in February 2026 under the leadership of the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Citi, and Deloitte* and is led locally by MassChallenge in collaboration with the City of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and more than thirty local organizations.

The initiative unites public, private, nonprofit and community leaders to harness the region’s robust innovation ecosystem, with a focus on improving health outcomes and creating more resilient and sustainable food systems – areas where Boston combines global research leadership with real-world deployment. The initiative is designed to help Boston become a leading testbed for food-as-health innovation while generating lessons that can be replicated in cities around the world. The Challenge called for startups that could deliver a measurable impact in Boston within four areas: food production; food logistics; nutritious food and meals; and food and health information access and navigation.

“The most important problems aren’t addressed by good intentions or new technology alone. They get solved when the right founders have access to the right infrastructure of support: the customers who need their solutions, the operators who can deploy them, and the networks that open doors that would otherwise take years to build. The founders in this cohort are not working on the margins of the food system. They are reimagining it to contribute to a healthier Boston and a new economic engine,” said MassChallenge CEO Cait Brumme.

“The work already underway in Boston to build more resilient food systems and improve health outcomes is exciting, and this first cohort is a powerful example of what is possible when innovation meets purpose,” said Rebecca Chasen, New England Managing Partner at Deloitte LLP. “Yes/Boston exists to help amplify, accelerate, and scale that progress – and just as importantly, to convene the ecosystem of supporters to help these founders succeed.”

The 12 innovator solutions selected for Boston are:

BioBlends

EatLove

EatWell Meal Kits

Family Dinner

FoodCopia

Gyre Energy

Health in Her HUE

Matriark Foods

Morrissey Market

Mothership Materials

RevivBio

ThriveLink

“The future of food will be shaped by entrepreneurs who can turn bold ideas into scalable businesses with measurable impact. This cohort showcases the strength of Boston’s innovation ecosystem, and we’re excited to help these founders accelerate solutions that strengthen food access, improve nutrition, and build more resilient communities,” said John Dutton, Head of UpLink, World Economic Forum.

“The challenges of food access, chronic disease, and community resilience are too complex for any one sector to solve alone,” said Jeff Merritt, Head of the Centre for Urban Transformation at the World Economic Forum. “The innovators selected through Yes/Boston represent the kind of bold thinking needed to create lasting impact. By rallying businesses, healthcare institutions, investors, and city leaders around these solutions, Boston is demonstrating how cities can harness cross-sector collaboration to build healthier, more resilient communities and local economies.”

The cohort reflects the strength of the innovation pipeline. Selected from 131 applications, the final cohort includes startups headquartered in Boston, across the United States and internationally.

As part of the program managed by MassChallenge, the top innovators will receive access to tailored local support. This includes advisory support from the Food and Nutrition Innovation Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and other Boston-area research, nonprofit and policy institutions. As startups in the UpLink program, they’ll benefit from the visibility, resources, and expertise of the World Economic Forum’s UpLink global innovation ecosystem to help accelerate scale and impact.

Yes/Boston is part of the World Economic Forum’s Yes/Cities initiative, which helps cities leverage innovation ecosystems to address local challenges while generating scalable models for broader adoption. By connecting entrepreneurs, public-sector leaders, investors and community organizations, Yes/Cities helps accelerate the deployment of solutions that improve quality of life and strengthen urban resilience.

The model is already demonstrating results in San Francisco, where the focus is on sustainability and economic revitalization. Since launching, the program has helped catalyze new investment, partnerships and deployments across the city, including:

More than $60 million has been invested in the city and many of these Top Innovators, and the momentum continues to build.Solutions are already being integrated into the local infrastructure – from privacy-first thermal sensors deployed in major downtown towers to a new wave of curbside EV charging stations.Several other innovators from the cohort are rapidly expanding their presence with local hires and new deployments that are directly helping to spur San Francisco’s economy.

About MassChallenge

MassChallenge is a global institution that backs startups building solutions to complex, systems-critical challenges, working where complexity is high and the path to market is hardest. Founded in Massachusetts, MassChallenge connects startups with partners, programs, and capital designed to accelerate commercialization and real-world impact. Since 2009, MassChallenge has supported more than 5,000 startups that have raised over $29B in funding and created more than 90,000 jobs. Learn more at masschallenge.org.

About Yes/Cities

Yes/Cities is a global initiative led by the World Economic Forum, Deloitte and others that brings together governments, innovators, investors, and leading companies to unlock economic opportunity and improve quality of life. It provides a pathway for world-leading companies to invest in innovation ecosystems across the globe – driving local growth, improving quality of life, forging new cross-sector collaborations, and seeding solutions to pressing global challenges. For further information, click here.

*Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of their legal structure.

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Axon Announces Body 5: Next-Generation Camera Built for the AI Era

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Axon Body 5 delivers 25x the AI processing power of earlier-generation cameras, with upgraded connectivity, audio and battery life to support real-time situational awareness in the field

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Axon (Nasdaq: AXON), the global leader in public safety technology, today announced Axon Body 5, its newest body-worn camera designed to bring more powerful intelligence, connectivity and real-time support directly to officers in the field.

For years, Axon body cameras have helped agencies capture critical evidence and create greater transparency. Body 5 is built to help officers during the call, with information, assistance and backup on the spot.

“Officers shouldn’t have to choose between getting information and watching the scene. With Axon Body 5, they don’t,” said Rick Smith, Axon Founder and CEO. “They capture a license or document with the camera, keep their hands free and eyes up, and get information faster than writing it down and calling it in by radio. An officer fully engaged with the person in front of them, not down at a notepad, is a safer officer and a better-served community.”

Axon Body 5: Built for the AI Era

Built from the ground up for the AI era, Axon Body 5 delivers 25x the AI processing power than earlier generation Axon body cameras, alongside advancements in connectivity, audio, video and battery life. Together, these upgrades give the camera the physical power to run smarter AI features — both today and as new AI tools are developed in the future — while also making it more dependable for officers to use every day. 

For the first time, Axon is also introducing two versions of its latest flagship camera: Axon Body 5 and Axon Body 5 Pro.

Both models feature several key advancements, including:

25x more processing power for AI: A powerful new computing architecture creates the capacity to support current and future AI features directly on the body camera.Enhanced video: Improved video captures clearer evidence across challenging environments, including better low-light performance.Improved connectivity: Seamless connectivity in urban and remote environments – and more precise location capability – helps officers, cameras and remote support teams stay connected when timely information matters most.Longer battery life: 20% more battery life than the previous generation helps keep the camera ready and connected throughout an officer’s shift.

The Axon Body 5 Pro will continue to gain new AI capabilities as they become available, growing along with the AI Era Plan. Additionally, new hardware features include:

A near-focus camera: An additional dedicated camera lens lets officers scan driver’s licenses to check status and search for wants or warrants in seconds, without returning to the patrol vehicle, with relevant information sent to Axon Fusus to support real-time operations.Front-facing speakers: Four additional speakers project even more powerful audio toward the person an officer is speaking with, helping real-time translations from Axon Assistant carry more clearly over heavy traffic or crowd noise. Additional memory: Extra space lets the camera run several AI tools at once, helping officers stay better informed and work faster.

Bringing More of Axon’s AI Era Into the Field

Axon Body 5 helps officers get more out of the Axon AI Era Plan by bringing smart tools right to the scene. Axon’s portfolio already supports public safety professionals across a growing range of tasks. For example, Draft One helps officers turn body-camera audio into high-quality report drafts and Axon Assistant provides voice-based information access and real-time translation.

Increasingly, Axon is also bringing AI into real-time operations.

Axon Guardian is a new category of AI features within the AI Era Plan that was specifically created to work with an officer’s field-based devices – starting with body cameras and in-car cameras – to improve safety. Guardian is designed to flag potential risks as situations unfold and create alerts when additional attention may be needed. Two of the first features include:

Escalation Detection: When an Axon Body 4 or Axon Body 5 camera is activated and recording, Guardian has the ability to detect potential conflicts in real time and create an alert in Axon Fusus. A human reviews the livestream and decides if additional support or action is needed.Approach Alert: When active on Axon Fleet 3, Guardian can detect if the door of a stopped vehicle opens and alert the officer through the in-car display and their body-worn camera.

Combined, Axon Body 5 and the expanding AI Era portfolio demonstrate the importance of AI as a critical resource to assist public safety professionals before, during and after an incident — reducing administrative burden, improving situational awareness and helping protect more lives.

Innovating Responsibly

Axon’s Responsible Innovation framework guides the development of all of its products. Designed with this in mind, Axon Body 5 and Guardian prioritize human oversight and maintain agency control over data. As a key part of the responsible innovation process, Axon’s independent Ethics and Equity Advisory Council was created to help responsibly develop and deploy new technologies with transparency, while aligning with community expectations.

General availability dates for Axon Body 5 and Axon Guardian will be announced soon. Product features and capabilities vary by configuration. For more information on Axon’s current products and services: Axon Product Catalog – Axon.com.

About Axon
Axon (Nasdaq: AXON) is the global leader in public safety technology supporting state, local, federal and international public safety agencies with technology designed to Protect Life. Complementing its mission, Axon’s growing Enterprise market focuses on protecting critical infrastructure and frontline workers across multiple industries including corporate security, hospitality, retail and healthcare. Founder-led since 1993, Axon builds products with transparency and responsibility. From TASER energy devices to today’s connected network of hardware – including cameras, drones, and robotics – cloud software, sensors, and AI-tools, the Axon ecosystem helps seamlessly protect people and places when it matters most. To ensure these technologies align with community expectations, Axon’s independent Ethics & Equity Advisory Council guides the ethical, inclusive, and accountable design of its products and services. Learn more about the EEAC and Axon’s Responsible Innovation framework at Axon Responsibility. 

Non-Axon trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Axon, TASER and the Delta Logo are trademarks of Axon Enterprise, Inc., some of which are registered in the US and other countries. For more information, visit www.axon.com/legal. All rights reserved.

Please visit https://investor.axon.com and https://www.axon.com/newsroom for more information.

Media Contact:
Kate MacKinnon
Vice President, Communications
press@axon.com

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In HelloNation, Custom Fabrication Expert Mark Coyle Explains a Common Mistake in Custom Aluminum Design

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The article explains why smart geometry, not thicker walls, creates stronger, more efficient aluminum components.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What early design choice causes many custom aluminum projects to become heavier, costlier, or harder to manufacture? That question is addressed in a HelloNation article featuring insights from Custom Fabrication Expert Mark Coyle of American Custom Metals, Inc. in Rochester, New York, that outlines how misunderstanding aluminum behavior leads designers to rely on thick walls instead of stronger geometry.

The article begins by explaining that many people assume thicker walls automatically make aluminum parts stronger. It notes that aluminum does not respond to wall thickness the way steel does. Instead, its performance is shaped by how the metal flows through the extrusion die. The article states that custom aluminum design is more effective when profiles use ribs, chambers, and flanges to create stiffness without adding unnecessary weight. This guidance helps readers understand why adding material often increases cost without improving strength.

The article also highlights that thicker walls change how aluminum moves during extrusion. When heavy areas fill more slowly, the metal cools unevenly and can develop stress that only appears later. The HelloNation piece explains that well-balanced geometry keeps extrusion smooth and predictable. This consistency makes it easier to maintain dimensional accuracy across long production runs. By focusing on geometry, custom aluminum design avoids the problems that come with slow extrusion speeds and uneven cooling.

Another insight in the article centers on how ribs and internal supports influence stability. It describes how a thin wall supported by a properly placed rib often performs better than a thick wall with no reinforcement. This happens because the rib helps distribute load, improve stiffness, and guide the aluminum as it cools. The article explains that this structural approach makes custom aluminum design more efficient and gives designers more control over how the final part behaves under pressure.

The article also shows why early collaboration between designer and fabricator prevents costly changes. It states that a fabricator familiar with extrusion can catch potential issues before a die is built. Small adjustments to corners or transitions can remove weak points or improve metal flow. The article notes that this teamwork keeps the design aligned with real-world production. By working together early, both sides reduce the risk of redesigning the die after the first test run.

Machining is another area where the article explains how wall thickness affects performance. Features such as deep pockets or sharp internal angles may require slow feed rates or special tooling. When walls are thicker than needed, those areas can become difficult to machine cleanly. The article states that thoughtful custom aluminum design makes machining more predictable. Small changes, such as adding radiused edges or sizing features to match standard tools, help shorten cycle times and prevent tool wear.

Thermal behavior receives detailed attention as well. The article explains that aluminum retains heat differently depending on the mass of each section. Thicker walls hold heat longer, which increases the chance of distortion during extrusion, machining, or finishing. When a design uses geometry to create strength, the material cools more evenly. This reduces warping and helps long profiles stay aligned. The article notes that stable cooling is important for components that require a precise fit and consistent shape throughout an entire production run.

Cost is also a key topic in the article. It states that heavier profiles increase material use, extrusion time, and tooling needs. A custom aluminum design that relies on geometry instead of mass lowers material consumption and keeps the fabrication process efficient. The article explains that lighter parts are easier to handle, ship, and assemble. This saves money across multiple stages of production and supports long-term manufacturing efficiency.

The article also notes that smart custom aluminum design creates profiles that behave predictably during extrusion and machining. Smooth transitions, balanced wall dimensions, and structural features help reduce the chance of distortion or dimensional drift. These elements also lower scrap rates and support reliable performance. By using geometry instead of excess material, designers build parts that maintain strength without compromising manufacturability.

As the article concludes, it emphasizes that avoiding thick walls is one of the best ways to improve performance and lower cost. It states that the most dependable custom aluminum components come from designs that use structural features to strengthen the profile. When designers understand how aluminum behaves at each stage of extrusion and machining, they create parts that are strong, efficient, and consistent from batch to batch. This approach turns custom aluminum design into a predictable process rather than a series of uncertain adjustments.

A Common Mistake in Custom Aluminum Design features insights from Mark Coyle, Custom Fabrication Expert of Rochester, NY, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation
HelloNation is America’s Good News Network, a premier media platform built on the idea that good news travels faster when real people tell real stories. Through its community-focused publications and innovative “edvertising” approach, HelloNation delivers content that informs, inspires, and spotlights the leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

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World Young Scientist Summit 2026 Opens in Wenzhou, Zhejiang

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WENZHOU, China, Oct. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This is a report by China Daily:

On October 24, the World Young Scientist Summit 2026 opened in Wenzhou, Zhejiang. The event is hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, and the World Association of Young Scientists. Nearly 800 representatives, including scientists, educators, and entrepreneurs from more than 60 countries and regions, are attending the summit.

He Junke, Vice President of CAST in charge of daily work and First Secretary of its Secretariat; Lian Yimin, Chairman and Party Group Secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Marcelo Knobel, Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences; and Zhang Zhenfeng, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Secretary of the CPC Wenzhou Municipal Committee, attended the summit and delivered remarks. Yao Gaoyuan, Vice Governor of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, presided over the first segment of the plenary session.

With the theme “Gathering Talents Worldwide to Create a Better Future,” the summit’s annual agenda is “Global Youth Action in the AI Era: Building a Sustainable Future.” It aims to draw on the insights of young people around the world, deepen international sci-tech cooperation, and jointly address questions about young people, science, the world and the future.

Efim Zelmanov, Fields Medalist and Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chen Yunji, Deputy Director of the Institute of Computing Technology, CAS, and Director of the National Key Laboratory of Processor Chips; Mary Garson, President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; and Lu Chaoyang, Member of the Standing Committee of CAST, Executive Dean of the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Study, University of Science and Technology of China, and Chairman of the Council of the World Association of Young Scientists, delivered keynote speeches respectively on education reform in the AI era, AI and processor chips, young women scientists’ participation in science, and quantum computing. They explored new opportunities for scientific research, talent cultivation, and international cooperation in the AI era.

This year’s summit placed greater emphasis on the growth needs of young scientists, with young talents under the age of 45 accounting for 88 percent of participants. It aimed to build a cluster of international journals, bring together young scientific talent, facilitate a batch of international collaborative projects and advance the application and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements. The summit released the Report on the Distribution and Mobility of Young Scientists in the Field of Embodied Intelligence, launched the World Young Scientist Summit Partner Journal Program and the 2026 World Young Scientist Innovation and Entrepreneurship Growth Support Program. It also published the “Young Scientist Pioneers 2035” list and announced the 2026 Sustainable Development Young Scientist Award. The awards were presented to four Chinese and foreign scientists.

Chen Tianrun, Founder of Hangzhou Moxin Technology Co., Ltd.; Yuan Yang, Assistant to the Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences at Tsinghua University; and two of the 2026 Sustainable Development Young Scientist Award winners, César de la Fuente and Nicola Segata, among other Chinese and foreign young scientist representatives, spoke at the flash-talk session to share their research practices and reflections.

In addition, the conference focused on fields such as future manufacturing, quantum information, embodied intelligence, brain-computer intelligence, environmental science, deep-sea resources, and life and health, and held 12 parallel forums. It also included the “Gravitation π” Future Technology and Concept Products Exhibition and Exchange, local thematic side events, and sci-tech and humanities study visits, further building an interdisciplinary, cross-regional and cross-sector platform for youth sci-tech exchange and cooperation.

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